According to figures published by Ucas, 141,669 applicants were still eligible for clearing on Friday.

Some 5,205 applicants have already found a place, 24 hours after clearing opened, up almost 2,000 for this point in 2008.

Ucas previously confirmed around 22,000 places were available through clearing this year, suggesting a quarter have already gone, one day into the process.

Speaking on Thursday, Anthony McClaran, Ucas chief executive, denied that the university places had dried up, insisting “wilder predictions of a dearth in clearing” were exaggerated.

But he admitted that more people were applying to university during the economic downturn.

In all, numbers are believed to up by 10 per cent to more than 600,000. But the Government has only made 13,000 more places available.

Mr McClaran said: “The dynamics of this year are clearly based on the fact that there has been a very strong increase in the number of applicants - over 10 per cent.

“That's a very strong level of application. The number of places has not been cut, as some have suggested, but increased by one or two per cent.

“Potentially clearing will be more competitive this year than last year. Entry to university is always a competitive process but with this rise it could well be more intense this year.”

Most of the UK's leading universities have already said they are full, while others say they have few places left available, leaving up to six students chasing every spot.

Ucas confirmed that a record 382,863 students had their university places confirmed by Friday morning morning, compared with 349,449 a year earlier.

Clearing is the annual process of matching applicants to vacant university courses.

Most students qualified for clearing because they had either not met the grades required by their course, had chosen not to take up an existing offer or did not get an offer earlier in the year.

Stephen Williams, the Liberal Democrat universities spokesman, said: “Thousands of talented students who have narrowly missed out on the grades they need are facing heartbreak in the scramble for the few clearing places available.

“Ministers must accept the blame for making this situation far worse by failing to fund the number of extra places they originally promised.”

Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said: “We remain concerned that, despite passing their A-levels, many university applicants will still be disappointed.

“We understand the current pressures on public finances, but it is surely better to bear the cost of additional university places now than to shoulder the burden of long-term unemployment later.”

The Government's target of getting 50 per cent of young people into university was defended by David Lammy, the Higher Education minister.

He said: “We will have more people at university this year than ever before in our history.

“We have an aspiration of 50 per cent that has driven the growth in university numbers. We've got 43 per cent of students opting for university and we can see the demand and appetite is still there.

“When you graduate, you graduate for 45 years of work. There will be upturns and downturns but a degree always puts you in stronger position. There is a premium that graduates generally enjoy in terms of salary. We have to be a highly skilled economy. Graduates understand that.”